ILMN vs LECO vs TMO Stock Comparison

Illumina, Lincoln Electric Holdings and Thermo Fisher Scientific Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ILMN Illumina, Inc.
$279.47 +3.5% 1M +178.5% 1Y
Market cap
$42.20B
P/E
51.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.49B
Div. yield
–
Life Sciences Tools Healthcare
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Lincoln Electric Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Lincoln Electric Holdings 6, Illumina 4, Thermo Fisher Scientific 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionILMNLECOTMOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $42.20B $15.29B $256.36B TMO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 51.2x 26.7x 36.4x LECO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 56.0x 24.3x 26.8x LECO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.9% +11.1% +8.3% LECO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 18.4% 12.4% — ILMN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.1% 22.6% — LECO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 1.0x — ILMN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.12% 0.27% LECO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +178.5% +16.6% +23.0% ILMN
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -7.0%/yr +15.0%/yr +2.3%/yr LECO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 50.4% 30.8% 29.8% TMO
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 54/100 51/100 ILMN

Percentile Scorecard

ILMNLECOTMO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisILMNLECOTMO
Valuation 51 #111 of 227 36 #130 of 203 50 #113 of 227
Growth 45 #120 of 219 44 #106 of 188 41 #130 of 219
Profitability 97 #8 of 206 94 #12 of 183 70 #63 of 206
Financial Health 51 #117 of 238 44 #121 of 217 –
Shareholder Returns 84 #23 of 134 54 #71 of 153 44 #76 of 134
Overall 66 54 51
  • ILMN ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics
  • LECO ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • TMO ranked among 247 companies in Medical Devices and Diagnostics

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodILMNLECOTMOSPY
1 month +3.5%+3.9%+2.9% -0.2%
3 months +44.8%+5.7%+20.3% +3.9%
6 months +120.2%+8.6%+47.4% +8.2%
Year to date +113.1%+17.8%+19.7% +12.9%
1 year +178.5%+16.6%+23.0% +12.3%
3 years +163.0%+63.5%+60.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +38.1%+17.8%+17.1% +23.3%
5 years -30.5%+101.1%+11.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year -7.0%+15.0%+2.3% +10.9%
10 years +106.3%+331.4%+364.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +7.5%+15.7%+16.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureILMNLECOTMOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 50.4%30.8%29.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.1%31.2%28.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.821.180.62 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 3.540.540.77 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.9%-35.3%-41.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.8%-5.5%-0.5% -1.2%
52-week high $293.69$298.88$696.55 $779.14
52-week low $95.03$220.64$438.34 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleILMNLECOTMO
P/E now vs peer median 51.2xmedian 29.6x 26.7xmedian 25.2x 36.4xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 2.9x 3.3xmedian 1.9x 5.4xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 37.3xmedian 17.4x 17.8xmedian 14.0x —median 17.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 45.3xmedian 22.3x 29.9xmedian 21.7x 34.0xmedian 22.3x
P/B now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 2.3x 9.8xmedian 2.3x 4.7xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median 1.70median 1.04 3.82median 1.32 4.80median 1.04

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsILMNLECOTMO
Revenue $4.49B $4.64B $47.35B
Gross profit $2.98B $1.65B –
Operating income $882.00M $802.52M $8.47B
Net income $825.00M $575.27M $7.09B
Free cash flow $931.00M $511.89M –
R&D $960.00M – $1.40B
EPS (diluted) $5.39 $10.48 $19.06
Cash & equivalents $1.04B $283.24M $5.46B
Total debt $1.99B $1.15B –
Shares (diluted) 153.00M 54.87M 371.00M
Enterprise value $36.97B $14.16B $256.48B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricILMNLECOTMO
P/E 51.2x 26.7x 36.4x
P/FCF 45.3x 29.9x 34.0x
P/Operating cash flow 38.5x 22.9x 27.5x
P/S 9.4x 3.3x 5.4x
P/B 14.9x 9.8x 4.7x
P/Tangible book 17.4x 9.8x 7.0x
EV/EBITDA 37.3x 17.8x –
EV/EBIT 48.8x 20.1x –
EV/Revenue 9.6x 3.5x 5.4x
EV/FCF 46.2x 31.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow 39.3x 24.2x 27.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.70 3.82 4.80

Growth

14 metrics
MetricILMNLECOTMO
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.9% 11.1% 8.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -1.0% 4.5% 2.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.6% 7.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.9% 5.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -31.8% 12.9% 12.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 28.3% 7.0% 7.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -34.4% 9.6% 7.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 30.0% 4.9% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -32.7% 11.0% 9.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 30.1% 7.0% 7.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -5.1% 0.7% 21.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 38.1% 0.5% 4.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -9.7% -6.3% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 105.0% -3.6% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricILMNLECOTMO
Gross margin 66.4% 35.5% –
EBITDA margin 25.7% 19.5% –
Operating margin 19.6% 17.3% –
Pretax margin 22.6% 16.2% –
Net margin 18.4% 12.4% –
FCF margin 20.7% 11.0% –
Operating cash flow margin 24.4% 14.4% 19.7%
Return on equity 29.9% 37.0% 13.2%
Return on assets 12.5% 14.9% 6.2%
Return on invested capital 15.1% 22.6% –
Return on capital employed 17.5% 27.7% –
Asset turnover 0.7x 1.2x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.3x 1.2x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 5.9% 0.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricILMNLECOTMO
Debt / assets 29.9% 29.5% –
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x 1.0x –
Debt / FCF 2.1x 2.2x –
Liabilities / assets 57.3% 60.1% –
Equity / assets 42.7% 39.9% 47.9%
Interest coverage 8.9x – –
Current ratio 1.8x 1.9x 1.8x
Quick ratio 1.2x 1.0x –
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.3x –
Altman Z-score 7.97 7.74 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricILMNLECOTMO
Dividend yield – 1.1% 0.3%
Net buyback yield 1.2% 1.8% –
Shareholder yield 1.2% 2.9% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 30.0% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 33.7% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 3.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 6.3% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusILMNLECOTMO
Forward P/E 56.0xFY2026 24.3xFY2026 26.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $4.99FY2026 $11.62FY2026 $25.91FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.1%FY2026 +17.7%FY2026 +13.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +25.7% +0.4% +2.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.52BFY2026 $4.84BFY2026 $50.12BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.1%FY2026 +14.5%FY2026 +12.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +5.5% -2.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersILMNLECOTMO
Held by institutions 100.0% 81.3% 90.2%
Institutions holding 933 701 2,622
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.0% +5.5% +0.8%
Institutions buying 463 297 1,142
Institutions selling 330 266 1,144
Buyers to sellers 1.40 1.12 1.00

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ILMNLECOTMO
ILMN 1.00 0.14 0.50
LECO 0.14 1.00 0.21
TMO 0.50 0.21 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ILMN, LECO and TMO?

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Illumina (ILMN) $42.20B, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) $15.29B, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) $256.36B.

Which stock is cheaper, ILMN, LECO and TMO?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Illumina (ILMN) 51.2x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 26.7x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 36.4x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) is cheapest (Illumina (ILMN) 56.0x, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 24.3x, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 26.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Illumina (ILMN) +4.9%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +11.1%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +8.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Illumina (ILMN) has the highest net margin (Illumina (ILMN) 18.4%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 12.4%). On return on invested capital, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads (Illumina (ILMN) 15.1%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 22.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Illumina (ILMN) returned the most: Illumina (ILMN) +178.5%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +16.6%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +23.0%. Over five years, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) compounded fastest (Illumina (ILMN) -7.0%/yr, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) +15.0%/yr, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) +2.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) has the highest dividend yield: Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 1.12%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 0.27%. Illumina (ILMN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) has been the steadiest (Illumina (ILMN) 50.4%, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) 30.8%, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) 29.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ILMN, LECO and TMO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.